Issue Notes

This issue does not have an indicia anywhere in the comic, as far as can be determined from microfiche and from the reprinted inside front cover in the Masterwork, which does not leave enough room beneath the contest text for an indicia. The Indicia publisher, frequency and volume are inferred to be the same as issues #1 and 3.

Scientist and inventor, Dr. Morrison Jones, died before his rocketship could be completed so that he could realize his dream of making the first trip to the planet Mars. His son Zephyr, however, vows to live out his father's dream!

Indexer Notes

Next appears in Mystic Comics (Marvel, 1940 series) #1. Jerry Bails's Who's Who and the Lambiek Comiclopedia both list Fred Schwab as the artist although "Fred Schwartz" is not listed among his pen names, nor as a separate person. This seems likely to be a confusion of similar names. The Masterworks credits Schwartz as a person and not a pen name.

Cal Cagno was eventually on staff at Timely, and may have already been on staff at this point, making this possibly an in-house / freelance job. Not enough is known about Schwartz to help place the source.

Reporter Allen Lewis is baffled by the death of a wealthy man who clutches a feather in his hand, but soon learns of a mysterious race of "bird-men" that seemed to be involved. Given the secret for a gun that shoots ice pellets by a soon-to-be murdered scientist, Lewis adopts a costumed identity to track down the bird-men at any cost.

Trojak, raised in the jungle by a native tribe after his father was killed by hostiles, is encouraged to find his own people and leave the jungle. However, he discovers that the ways of his people are not to his liking, and returns to the jungle to fight off hostile savages attempting to kill a girl who has be-friended him.

Indexer Notes

The Masterworks tentatively credits Jack Alderman with the artwork, but Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. via the Timely-Altas list in January 2012 states that he sees no Alderman here. The heads and airplanes are likely drawn by a different artist than the rest of the strip. Jim believes that the same artist likely drew the majority of this strip and the strip in issue #4, or possibly a different artist drew #4 using this story as a close guide. Henry Andrews notes that the airplanes in this issue's story are much more detailed than in #4, indicating that the touch-up artist here did not work on the story in #4. The GCD previously credited Vince Alascia with inking Alderman, but no support for either artist on this feature can be found in the Who's Who, nor had Alascia developed a recognizable style at this point as far as anyone on the Timely-Atlas list knows.

The story in #4 is from the Chesler shop, so this may be as well, but the unusual panel arrangement here (with wide spaces between the panels) which may or may not be a clue to the strip's origins, has not been spotted elsewhere.

Mr. "E", enemy of the underworld, sees the connection in the recent deaths of several "captains of industry", knowing all four were silent partners in the Snead Oil Company, but unaware at the same time that his old enemy, the Vampire, is behind it all.

Indexer Notes

Only golden age appearance. Next appearance in The Twelve (Marvel, 2008 series) #1Al Carreno was associated with Chesler at this time according to Who's Who, but also with Funnies, Inc. at an unspecified date. Cal Cagno may have been a Goodman/Timely writer. The studio source, if any, for this story is unclear.